Tempest Bar

www.pourguys.com/tempest-box

The Tempest is an old-time neighborhood bar and a great place for drinks and food. There is a well-stocked bar and the food provided by the connected Box Kitchen is outstanding. I come here for the burger. There are not many burgers in the world that I can eat without ketchup but this is one of them. 

The crowd is a mix of locals and tech workers. They have a pool table that gets a lot of use and a bunch of TVs for sports watching. They have great “beer and a shot” specials as a good dive bar should.  

The brick building painted the color of the Golden Gate Bridge gives it a lot of character and I don’t know why the whole graffiti in the bathroom thing is a thing in SF bars but they do it here as well.  

This South of Market bar sits at the intersection of the different San Francisco identities. On one side sits the grittier 6th St and on the other side sits the convention center with nice hotels. You get the juxtaposition of a bunch of homeless tents nearby while across the street you have this new park that looks like it could be in Singapore.